Jim Bouman ’18
Born and raised in the Netherlands to very loving and caring parents, Jim studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management, and graduated with a BSc in International Business Administration and a MSc in Strategic Management. He then joined a start-up company which focused on localizing and publishing Asian mobile games in Western markets. There he enjoyed an environment that granted him with a lot of responsibilities and freedom to develop himself.
There are two ways in which Jim tries to spend his energy: to develop himself and to have a positive impact on others. Contributing as much as possible to tackling the many problems facing our planet and our societies while hoping to encounter people with a similar positive outlook on the future and supporting them is what drove him to the Awaji Youth Federation.
Jim enjoys spending time with the ones dear to him and is a sport enthusiast, in particular soccer (aka football). On top of that he enjoys learning about other cultures and languages to the extent where he wants to have learnt 10 languages by the time he is in his mid-40s.
In AYF Jim is part of the Shotengai Revitalization team which aims to revitalize an old shopping district located in Iwaya (northeastern part of the island). By committing himself to this work he gets the opportunity to contribute to the local community and leave a lasting, positive mark, regardless of the time it takes to achieve it.
From there Jim would love to stay on at AYF and help the programme develop, at least for the foreseeable future. He wishes, in particular, to help the next classes of Fellows achieve great things in AYF. Finally, he will continue to take steps to achieve his dreams and have a positive impact on this world.